Lecture 6
(Based on Borg’s, Reading the Bible Again,
Ch. 6)
Hansie Wolmarans
Introduction
The
prophetic books of the Old Testament mainly has to do with social criticism (we
are encouraged to create a just society) and hope for the future (God is on the
side of the powerless and downtrodden). Unfortunately many Christians regard
them mainly as predictions of the future. We are going to specify which books
are included as part of ‘The Prophets’, when and why they were written, how
Christian traditionally viewed these books, and finally, their message.
The
Prophets
The
prophetic books are divided into two groups: (a) The Former Prophets and (b)
The Later Prophets. The first group includes Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel
and 1 & 2 Kings. They cover the history of Israel from their entering the
Promised Land in the 13th century BCE up to the destruction of
Jerusalem and its temple in 586 BCE. The second group, on which we are to focus
our attention, are divided into: (a) The Three Major Prophets (Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). They are called ‘major’ because of their length. (b)
The Twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea, Zecharaiah, Amos, Obadiah, and so forth).
They refer to the shorter prophetic books.
The
Historical Background of the Prophetic Books
They
cover the history of Israel since being a tribal confederacy with no
centralised government, to the monarchy which was established around 1000 BCE.
King Saul was not regarded as very successful. He was succeeded by David who
unified the country. His son, Solomon, built the temple and thus centralised
worship in Jerusalem. After his death, the kingdom split into Israel (to the
North) and Judah) to the South. In 722 BCE the kingdom of Israel was destroyed
by Assyria and disappeared from history. There are many legends around the
so-called ‘lost tribes of Israel.’ Judah was conquered in 586 BCE by the
Babylonians of Iraq. They razed Jerusalem and its temple to the ground and the
aristocracy was exiled to Babylon. When the Persians captured Babylon in 539
BCE they allowed the exiles to return to Judah. They rebuilt Jerusalem, the
temple, and reconstructed their society. The period before the exile, the exile
itself, as well as the return from exile forms the historical background of the
Later Prophets. Amos is the oldest classical prophet (750 BCE) and he was
active thirty years before the destruction of the Israel kingdom. The latest
prophets continued their activities for the first two centuries after the
return from exile.
The
Social Background of the Prophetic Books
The
prophetic books reflect a pre-industrial agrarian society which developed around
1000 BCE when the monarchy was established. Political, economic, and religious
power was concentrated in the hands of the aristocracy. The official
religion, with worship centralised at the temple in Jerusalem, was nothing but
the monarchy in prayer. It legitimised the way in which society was
structured. Society was associated with huge disparities of wealth and
power—like the Jews experienced in Egypt. It seems that those oppressed in the
past, became the oppressors in the present. The prophets often describe society
as Egypt-like, and equate some of the kings to the pharaoh.
Traditional Perspective on Prophets
In Christianity, the prophets were traditionally valued as predicting
Jesus as the Messiah. The prophets were read using what is called ‘The
Messianic Method of Reading.’ Matthew 1:22-23, for example, quotes Isaiah 7:14 that
‘A virgin will conceive and bear a son.’ The Hebrew text does not speak of a
virgin, but of a young woman. It is not a prediction of Jesus, but meant to
console the king Ahaz, who feared an invasion in the 8th century
BCE. He is assured that before this child knows the difference between right
and wrong, the danger would disappear.
We have to remember that very little was known of Jesus’ childhood. Members of
the early Christian churches wanted to know more about Jesus. They scanned the
prophets and created stories around certain texts. Matthew 2:6 quotes Micah 5:2
which expects a king from the line of David to come from Bethlehem in Judah. It
is interpreted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and this is why
Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem. Most mainline scholars agree Jesus was
born in Nazareth. Matthew 2:14 quotes Hosea 1:11 ‘Out of Egypt I have called my
son.’ It is interpreted as referring to Jesus, not to the exodus, and gave rise
to the story of the Joseph, Mary and Jesus fleeing to Egypt. Jesus is nowhere
directly predicted in the Old Testament. As Christians we believe that
expectations of a Messiah (e.g. Micah 5:2) were fulfilled in Jesus—this is
based on faith.
A Message of Social Justice
The basic message of the prophets is one of social justice. The oldest
prophet, Amos, was active in the 8th century BCE. He indicts
Israel’s enemies (like Damascus, Gaza, Moab and even Judah) for indiscriminate
killing, exiling entire communities, ripping open pregnant women—for the sake
of enlarging their borders. He is also critical of his own people (Amos 2:6-7)
for selling ‘honest fold for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals,’ living
in luxury while being indifferent to the misery in their midst. He condemns the
festivals, burnt offerings and songs of the official religion, stating that God
rather wants justice and righteousness to flow on like a river (5:24).
The prophets also indict what can be called ‘Structural Injustice’—meaning
inequalities caused by the way society is structured. In 1 Samuel 8:4-22,
10:17-19 we find a tradition critical of the monarchy, because the kings would
enslave their subjects, impose high taxes, and conscript soldiers. However, we
also find a tradition in favour of the monarchy (2 Sm. 7:1-17) where the king
is regarded as the son of God—a good example of royal theology.
The Form of Prophetic Discourse
The prophets often make use of concepts from the law courts, in the form
of (a) A Summons (b) and Indictment and (c) A threat of punishment. In Micah
3:9-12, for example, the rulers of Israel are summoned. They are indicted for
selling verdicts for a bribe and giving rulings for payment, building Zion with
bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity. They are threatened that Zion will
become a ploughfield and Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
The prophets also made use of symbolic actions. Hosea (1:6-8) named his
children Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi (Not-Compassion and Not-My-People) to warn his
people that this is how God was going to react to them. Isaiah (Ch. 20) walked
barefoot and naked for three years through the streets of Jerusalem to warn his
people they would be taken away as captives—naked and barefoot—if they would
join an alliance with Egypt against Syria. Jeremiah (27-28) wore a wooden yoke
to encourage his people to accept the yoke of Babylon. Ezekiel (Ch. 4) used
human dung to bake bread shortly before the siege of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians—warning the inhabitants they will experience severe shortage even
of fuel.
Prophetic Inspiration
All prophets claimed that they received their words ‘from God’. Borg
argues they were ‘God-intoxicated’—meaning they had some or other type of experience (a vision, a
dream, ecstasy, or just an inner voice). This experience gave them courage to
withstand various forms of persecution. Amos (7:10-17) was banished. Jeremiah
(20:1,2; 26, 38) was flogged, put in stocks, threatened with death, forced into
hiding, imprisoned, and lowered into a muddy cistern to starve and die. Their
divine experience did not mean they only acted as ‘microphones’ to pick up and
amplify God’s voice; they rather structured their message using their own
religious traditions like the exodus and the covenant. God wanted people to
exodus from oppression and poverty, and to live according to the covenant which
required charity. They became the voice of powerless victims against their
oppressors.
A Message of Hope
The
experience of exile created much despair amongst the Jews. Psalm 137 expresses
this: ‘By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept as we remembered Zion.’
The book of Lamentations also grieves about Jerusalem being empty of
inhabitants, shortages of food, economic hardship, parentless families, the
raping of women, and the execution of their leaders. Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah
40-55), written after the return from exile in 539 BCE, is therefore a book of
hope. The Jews had to travel more than 1600 km by foot. So Isaiah 40:29-31
gives them hope stating, ‘God gives vigour to the weary … they will soar as on
eagles’ wings.’ God is now presented not as a merciless judge, but as a loving
father or mother, a caring shepherd, a God recreating good from bad. ‘You will
go out with joy and be led forth in peace. Before you the mountains and hills
will break forth into cries of joy, and all the trees in the countryside will
clap their hands.’ (Is. 55:12).
Conclusion
We do the prophets a disservice by domesticating them as predictors of
Jesus as the Messiah. Their sensitivity to social justice speaks to our time.
We need prophetic voices against societal structures which oppress women,
children, and homosexuals. Churches to cozy with the status quo should
be addressed. We need to keep fresh the vision of the prophets for a time
(Micah 4:3-4) when ‘They will hammer their swords into mattocks and their
spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up sword against nations; they
will never again be trained for war. Each man will sit under his own vine or
his own fig tree, with none to cause alarm.’
